Warped Tour 2009 Band List

Warped Tour is regularly the a showcase for the biggest names in punk rock. VANS, the skateboarding shoe company, has been sponsoring the event since its first year, and this year they will be bringing you the latest and greatest in rock and roll. Below is a list of the bands that will be on most stops on the tour. Band names link to TruePunk content on the band. The bands are listed by what stage they will be playing on.

For a complete list of the tour dates click here: Warped Tour 2009 Dates

Main Stage

The main stage has always been the center of the talent showcase
3OH!3
Alien Ant Farm
All Time Low
Anti-Flag
The Ataris
Bad Religion
The Bouncing Souls
Chiodos
Cobra Starship
The Devil Wears Prada
Flogging Molly
Less Than Jake
NOFX
Paramore
Silverstein
Thrice
Underoath
We the Kings

Hurley Stage

A Day To Remember
Alexisonfire
Bayside
Escape the Fate
Gallows
The Maine
Saosin
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Sing it Loud
TAT

Hurley.com Stage

Big D and the Kids Table
Black Tide
I Set My Friends on Fire
LIGHTS
Meg & Dia
Millionaires
Outernational
P.O.S.
Streetlight Manifesto
Westbound Train

Smartpunk.com Stage

A Rocket To The Moon
A Skylit Drive
Breathe Carolina
Breathe Electric
Cash Cash
Dance Gavin Dance
Dear and the Headlights
Every Avenue
Forever the Sickest Kids
The Goodnight Anthem
Hit the Lights

Streetlight Manifesto

The name evokes something dark and revolutionary. Streetlights provide illumination in the darkness, to protect against would-be attackers that seek to catch you unawares. A manifesto is a philosophical compendium to provide insight and shed light on the truth, handed out freely on the street in peaceful rebellion. But both are also notorious for their limits. The shadows on the edge of a streetlight’s circle of protection are more menacing than the open night. And a manifesto is only pages long, unable to delve deeply into the topic at hand, only skimming the surface. Manifestos are meant to ignite rebellion, not provide the fuel.

Tomas Kalnoky rose to power in the world of ska as one of the driving creative forces behind the equally-powerfully named Catch 22 in their early years. This band would define the public image of the genre, and although they may not have invented ska, they inarguably came to represent the genre in the mainstream. Okay, maybe not inarguably. I’m sure the Mighty Mighty Bosstones would disagree. But they can go ahead and disagree - Catch 22 was God for a few years there. Their debut album, “Keasbey Nights,” was a raging success, and many of the songs on that album were written by Kalnoky. Unfortunately, Kalnoky discovered that he was not able to continue being in the band. Why? Only the original line-up of Catch 22 knows. But when Kalnoky left, he took half the band with him and forged a new band: Streetlight Manifesto.

Adopting members from another popular ska group, One Cool Guy, Streetlight Manifesto was a ska supergroup of epic proportions. Like all supergroups, the members’ previous successes drove their new project with little need to advertise or promote. Those who were interested in Catch 22 and One Cool Guy did not need to look far to find Streetlight Manifesto, and they began coming to shows. The band’s first full-length album, “Everything Goes Numb”, was the most logical progression from “Keasbey Nights”, and musically took the Catch 22 content to a darker, more sinister place. While many ska bands, like Reel Big Fish and Suburban Legends, are famous for being lighthearted and upbeat, “Everything Goes Numb” was an album deranged; themes of theft, suicide, oblivion, and violence played with the razor’s edge. Instead of blurting and popping, Streetlight Manifesto’s horns and brass are sharp, cutting, and pulse-pounding. The entire genre was turned on its head.

Streetlight Manifesto’s split from Catch 22 was not clean. Many fans and critics have pointed to lyrics from “Everything Goes Numb” songs, claiming that they are overt attacks on his former band mates’ characters. Other have pointed to Catch 22 songs as being evidence of the reverse. It is hard to tell, though, because the public is so very uncertain of why there is any bad blood between the two. But it is not hard to see that there has been some. When Victory Records announced that it was going to re-release the Catch 22 debut album “Keansey Nights” Kalnoky was not entirely pleased. He felt that his contributions to the album were what made it great - which is difficult to contend - and that his former band mates and label were butthumping him out of money (that’s right, I said butthumping - get over it!) So he went ahead and re-recorded the entire album and re-released it himself.

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of Streetlight Manifesto’s legacy is their propensity to being robbed. While asleep in a hotel room in Orlando, Florida, the band’s van was broken into and stripped clean. As if that weren’t bad enough, the trailer that had been hitched to the van was de-hitched and hauled away in its entirety. When the group woke up the next morning they had lost all of their instruments, all of their equipment, and a lot of their money and personal belongings. All in all they were down an astounding $80,000. I’ll put that into words for more effect: Eighty thousand dollars. Luckily they were able to scrounge together enough to keep playing shows. But then, while in Paris, France during the 2005 riots - only a few months after the last robbery - the band’s rental cars were broken into and the last of their expensive equipment stolen. The saddest part was the theft of the 24-track recording device the band had been using to record their shows on the tour. Some Parisian criminal now owns the only copy of the most valuable ska recordings ever.

But this wasn’t about to stop the band. They’ve released a new album on Victory Records called “Somewhere in Between”, and they’re heading out to the Vans 2009 Warped Tour - just for you!

How To Look Like A Punk Vol. 4 - The Early Years

Looking like a punk rocker isn’t easy. The whole premise of punk philosophy is to be yourself and to hell with what people think of you. Expressing yourself, no matter how, is what’s important. But you want people to know what that philosophy is, and you want people to know you’re a punk. Being punk is part of who you are! So let’s take a look back at the beginnings of the genre to see how the first punks made themselves stand out from the crowd.

The Sonics: 1960-1968

They weren’t the dapper young lads that people expected a band to be in the 1960s. Predating the actual punk scene, the Sonics were loud, crashing, abrasive rock and roll that repulsed the masses. They sang songs about the devil, drinking poison, and cruising for chicks in their hometown of Tacoma, Washington. Almost every punk band in existence has listed the Sonics as a primary influence in their sound. But how about their look? At the time it was common for bands to take promotional photographs while wearing slick suits and humble clothing. It had worked for the Beatles when they crossed the pond, so record labels thought it could work for anyone. Rather than wear what they were told the Sonics preferred to wear high collars, sweater vests, plastic sunglasses, and leather jackets. Very few pictures were taken and circulated of the band because the label thought they would be rejected as vulgar by the American public. The Sonics never gained much mainstream success, but their style set off a chain of events.

The New York Dolls: 1971 - 1977

They laid the path for punk rockers. Dee Dee Ramone and Joey Ramone developed their friendship by dressing up in glam and going to New York Dolls shows. Glam Rock like Gary Glitter and David Bowie had been around, but the Dolls were the first to use the glitz and glam to shock the crowd instead of woo them. The Dolls wore way too much make-up and bent their gender to the max. Many 80s metal bands and the entirety of the hairmetal genre tried to rip off the Dolls’ style - teasing their long hair, slipping into shiny one-piece skintight suits, and bashing together other recognizable styles - like a one-piece white suit with tails. Other aspects of their outrageous style got adopted into other parts of punk. British goth-punk band Specimen adopted the heavy makeup and outrageous hair. Seattle-based turn-of-the-century punk band The Briefs shares the Dolls’ love of pink. Leather was a big part of the New York Dolls look. At the time their leather bands and studded belts were not common or popular. The 70s were a time of repression and persecution for people who were gay and/or kinky (the distinction between the two was not made clear for years) and the leather was shocking and considered inherently sexual, adding to their lusty and edgy appeal. Perhaps the biggest contribution to fashion from the New York Dolls was their refusal to be pigeonholed. Throughout their career they were constantly innovating new subtleties to their attire, and creating more depth to their look while still working within their obvious draw: glam, glitter, androgyny, and skintight suits.

The Ramones: 1974 - 1996

Big, bad, and terrifying - that’s what most people thought of the Ramones. When they toured Europe, people were afraid of violence because the leather jackets and denim jeans they wore were the uniforms of gangsters in the media. Since the 1950s people had been wearing what is now the classic Ramones look - white tee shirt, blue denim jeans, and black leather jacket. They were called “greasers”, like the main characters from the hit Broadway musical “Grease”, who were renowned for getting into fights, starting gang turf wars, racing customized cars at high speeds, and to a lesser extent doing stimulant drugs like amphetamines. None of the Ramones did much of these things (except getting in fights on occasion, and Dee Dee was a big drug user) but the image was vivid. The Ramones were not terrifying people, and for the most part they were genuinely nice guys, but they put on the image of a tough group of people because it was the image they wanted to convey. And it worked. The combination of fast, loud, raucous music and an outfit to kill in fused the images together and now they are inextricable. For more on the Ramones and the history of leather jackets, visit How To Look Like A Punk Vol. 1 - History of Leather Jackets

The Sex Pistols: 1975 - 1978

Lights that burn bright burn quicker. The Sex Pistols were only around for a measly three years, but their impact on music, philosophy, politics, and society is incalculable. Lyrically they were edgier than their mainstream peers, and although they neither invented nor perfected punk rock, they made it accessible and consumable for the average listener. There was no uniform or image from the Sex Pistols in their clothes. What they did manage to do for fashion was popularize the look of poverty. They made it okay to look like you don’t make very much money, because very few people do. Sid Vicious was famous for his leather jacket not because leather jackets were expensive - which they were - but because it was an old beat-up and heavily modified piece of clothing he’d found in the trash. Looking at photographs from the time it’s obvious Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones would frequently wear one another’s clothing. Both Vicious and Johnny Rotten would wear jeans with the holes in the knees because they couldn’t afford patches, which at the time was a major taboo even for people who worked very hard for their paychecks. Now, however, you have to pay extra for jeans that are already worn down in the right places. The irony is that the Sex Pistols, in their attempt to promote poverty as a lifestyle, have made it very expensive to look poor by making it fashionable.

At their last show ever, in San Fransisco, the Sex Pistols were frayed and dissonant. They had split ideologically, with Rotten and Vicious wanting to maintain the band’s independence from the influence of manager Malcolm McLaren versus Paul Cook and Steve Jones’ desire to make money from their music. Most interestingly this dissonance was expressed in the form of clothing. Vicious wore only leather pants, going shirtless as was common. He was not going to compromise just because they had sold out a show in the States - he was going to dress like it was a pub in London. Rotten came on stage wearing a leather vest and button-down shirt mimicking artists from more mainstream bands like the Runaways and Cheap Trick. Why the sudden interest in high-price fashion? He looked ridiculous, and he wanted his band mates to see, because guitarist Steve Jones had come on stage wearing an extremely expensive red crushed velvet suit jacket and slacks. Jones’ decision to spend a lot of money on clothing had irritated Rotten, and Rotten decided the only thing to do was try to upstage Jones’ silly outfit. Did he succeed? It’s up to you to say. Click here for a YouTube video of that performance.

What did we learn today?

Recap. What do all of these people have in common? The Sonics pioneered a whole new way of thinking about fashion by using it to intimidate and intrigue the audience. The New York Dolls used glam and flashy androgynous outfits to shock the population while remaining non-threatening and fun. Conversely the Ramones used the association between violence and leather jackets to foster an image they had designed. And for the Sex Pistols clothing was a symbol of status, and they (at least in the classical notion of their philosophy) reveled in their poverty.

There is a throughline: no uniform. Punk rock fashion is about taking what’s around you, how you know people react to certain things, and what you like to do and wear and creating something no one else would think of nor have the guts to wear. So if you want to look like a punk, take a page from the original punk rockers - be original.

Interview with Propagandhi

As they gear up for the busiest touring period in their long career, Canadian protest-punk veterans Propagandhi break the drought with Supporting Caste, their first album in four years. Truepunk speaks with drummer Jordy Samolesky about playing Italian squats and standing up for the little people.

Interview with PROPAGANDHI – February 2009 By Steve Tauschke

Formed in 1986 by Samolesky and guitarist Chris Hannah, Propagandhi’s penchant for taking extended breaks has kept them off the live scene but has ironically given the band a longevity few acts dream of.

“We actually had a few periods where we’d take as much as two years off, either we’d stop touring to start writing a new album or something like that,” says Samolesky from Winnepeg of the band’s two decade tenure. “So we haven’t played ourselves out to the point where we’re completely sick of our material.

“More recently we added a new guitar player Beav (David ‘Space Beaver’ Guillas) to the band and kind of spent a good couple of seasons working him into the new stuff and writing new material. So we haven’t been too active on the road really.”

All that is about to change as Propagandhi, now a quartet, embark on a very busy 2009 to promote their newly released fifth album Supporting Caste, issued by their own imprint G7 Welcoming Committee, after four albums on Californian indie punk label Fat.

“I wouldn’t say it’s straight ahead in terms of our early stuff like our How To Clean… album, it’s definitely not like that,” offers Samolesky. “But I wouldn’t say it’s prog-rock or metal or anything like that. I think we have a lot of elements of our earlier stuff but it’s layered a little more effectively now.”

Recorded at the increasingly popular The Blasting Room studios in Colorado with engineer Jason Livermore and drummer-cum-producer Bill Stevenson, formerly of Black Flag, Descendents and ALL, the album addresses themes close to the band members’ socially aware hearts.

“I guess one take on it could be - and it’s certainly open to interpretation - it’s kind of like we’re all this supporting caste for the powers that be who are the top of the caste in the caste system,” says Samolesky of the record’s title. “But it’s more of a global thing, it’s not really based on the Indian caste system.

“I think we have to realise what our different roles are in this sort of supporting caste system whether you’re at the bottom and you’re the most marginalized and powerless or completely exploited to death or if you’re in a relatively more privileged caste where you have the ability to do something to change things …

“We’re all written into this ongoing story and the history’s always written by the victors, the people at the top of the heap. But it’s all based on a false sense of reality.”

Supporting Caste may also be regarded as a continuum of the band’s long-held championing of grassroots, non-profit and community-minded initiatives that have seen them perform at atypical rock venues over the years for a variety of causes.

“We’re all more inspired by the independent side of music and if there are counter-cultural elements then I think we’re into some of those,” says Samolesky. “I think just being able to see different examples of independent and anti-authoritarian culture around the world has been really interesting. One thing comes to mind is playing in some of the squat scenes in Italy and until a number of years ago, in Germany as well, that was really inspiring.

“Some of the places we played were absolutely incredible and examples of forms of participatory democracy with people living an independent lifestyle in a really successful and interesting way. We’ve played factories and an armoury I believe it was from the 17th century.”

the Eruptors Bad time to be having a good time

The Eruptors “Bad time to be having a good time” is the first release for this Ireland based band with a release date in the early months of 2008.

This release was a pretty fun listen too with quirky fast songs with a traditional punk rock and roll sound with a bit of UK style rock added into the mix which always adds something to a bands sound for people in North America.

The album is fast with a few really good songs that really stand out (One minute decision). I will admit though that I like nearly all their unreleased demo songs then about 1/2 of the songs on this album. It could be that the album I received was a pre-release without nearly as many songs as the release did so I might not be hearing every song that is on the album.

All in all “Bad time to be having a good time” is a great album to check out. I would rather see them live though because it seems like the album dosen’t grab the full power that this band would carry live.

Track Listing

Dawn of the earth
theme from the Eruptors
insert #1
Gravelrash
One minute decision
Unleash the dogs of war
Insert #2
Battlestar Eruptica
Insert #3
My baby’s not at home
Insert #4
Devils got angel’s wings
Skate fast@ Die Hard! (album everion)
Return to the dawn of the earth

Sound and Fury

Sound and Fury’s self titled album is set for release in June (June 26th). This is the first release for this Toronto based band.

This self released album is a skull rattling intense album that will get you singing along and stomping your foot. Every song on this album is full of energy and straight up rock and roll. These guys can get anyone to rock with them at their shows with all the power this album holds. Their live shows are entertaining as the band seems to go out of control when they play.

You will be able to check these guys out at Warped Tour this year (from what I understand at least) and should be one of the bands to check out. They are by far in the top 10 bands I will be checking out this year.

Track Listing

Schools Out
Teenage Rampage
Can’t get enough
Bad touch
Night of the ghouls
High school hotbox
Runaway Love
Supercharged
The stranger
Hellhound

www.soundandfuryrocks.com

Snuff

UK punk gov’nors Snuff discuss disposable income, hangover cures and “rocking like little donkeys on a footpath”.

Interview by Steve Tauschke with vocalist-drummer Duncan Redmonds.

You’ve just toured Japan… any interesting stories to share with us?
“We’ve eaten rotten squid in its own guts, pig colon, fish testicles. Lee impersonated the WALK signal nearly killing the promoter who stepped out thinking it was the real thing and Jerry heard the doorbell and answered the phone.”

Are the Club Quattro’s uniform throughout Japan?
“Not really, they have different capacities and layouts.”

Last year, you covered the Pirates of The Caribbean jingle from the famous ride at Disneyland for a Japanese compilation. Have you noticed more adults than children at Disneyland?
“I’ve never been to Disneyland so I can`t really say. But grown-ups do like to revisit their childhood.”

Can you recall the most pathetic lyric you’ve ever written?
“Rhyming ‘pray with day’. And many, many more that never made it because they were written at the end of a drinking session and were complete drunken nonsense.”

What’s your favorite Snuff record and why?
“The next one, because the process of writing is the most rewarding.”

You’ve called the new album Disposable Income .. what’s the silliest thing you’ve
ever wasted money on?
“A wind-up plastic SUMO on a skateboard.”

The album is distributed in the through Canada’s Union Label Group. What
happened with Fat?
“Fat are a great label and were interested in picking up the next record, but we wanted to do it ourselves. There is no bad blood and the door is open for future projects should we change our minds.”
”
So will your side project Guns n’ Wankers be resurfacing considering Axl Rose’s reappearance?
“The truth is that we only got our name because the drummer refused to be known as Cunts and Wankers. It was an accident; we never meant to parody Guns & Roses. It`s unlikely we will get together but it`s not impossible.”

What are fellow Englishmen Consumed up to?
“We just did a tour with them, and they`re still bloody great if not a bit smelly. And fuck me, do they whinge - and they can`t play cricket. But their record rocks like little donkeys on the footpath!”

Does Snuff have anything in common with the 80s cult film Withnail & I?
“Not really but Lee will happily recite the script when asked.”

What’s your most effective hangover cure?
“Cup of tea and a wank.”

Did you weep when Joe Strummer died?
“Yes, it is a sad loss. The Clash were a great band and a big influence. R.I.P JOE.”

danzig

Back in the first half of the 90s, when then second fiddlers Korn and Kyuss opened shows for them, LA quartet Danzig were top of the devil-rock fathers, so to speak. While the band’s profiled has dipped in the past decade, veteran metal ghoul and group nucleus Glenn Danzig has kept he show running with no plans to hang up the black gloves just yet.

Interview by Steve Tauschke | steve@staff.truepunk.com | with Glenn Danzig.

It seems like you’ve been around forever…what’s the secret to your durability?
I don’t know, you’d have to ask the fans. I just know that I do what I do and no-one tells me what to do. I don’t play the MTV game and The Rolling Stone magazine game, I just do what I do. I could never be somebody’s boy like that, like ‘you do what we say and you’ll make lots of money’. Fuck you - I don’t fuckin’ care!

Did that happen back in the early days?
Yeah, of course. Anybody who’s signed to a label will tell you that there are people at the label who try to steer you this way or that way or try to get you to do this or that. You’ve just got to stick to your guns and if that means not being on that label then that’s what it is.

I believe you actually retired from touring last year…have you just had enough?
I’m tired of doing it, I’ve been doing it my whole life and I’m tired of bouncing around on the bus, you know. It’s not being on stage that I don’t like, I love being on stage, it’s just the rest of the day and being away from your house for fuckin’ three months on end. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ll still do local shows and there is talk of going to London to do one Blackest Of The Black show, which is a festival I’ve started so I’ll still hop on a plane and be away for a day and come back home and that’s fine. I’m not retired from playing, I’m retired from touring.

It’d be nice to simply materialize on stage each night I guess?
Yep, I’d love to just snap my fingers and be there and then snap my fingers and be home. If I could do that I’d do it forever.

You’ve been taking your former Misfits band mate Doyle on the road with you… how did you hook up with him again?
We’ve kind of kept friendly over the years and his wife is friends with my office assistant Craig and so we ended talking about a lot of stuff and he told me he’d left the Misfits a while ago. So he ended up sending me demos of his new band and he wanted to get back up on stage so it ended up happening. And we still crack each other up so it’s a lot of fun. He’s always been a really nice guy. I don’t know what else too say about him. Haha!

Has that reunion brought back any old Misfits memories?
No but it was a lot of fun being on stage together again when we did The Blackest tour.

Tell us about that Blackest Of The Black tour?
Yeah, I started it in 2003 and it’s just bands that get ignored by MTV and magazines, you know what I mean? We’re a on a darker slant I guess you could call it. It’s pretty cool but it’s also just who’s available at the time. I wish I could just go ‘ok, I want this band, this band and this band’.

How did you feel reforming Samhain for a tour back in 1999?
Well I had to do two sets a night, haha! We only did it in the States to commemorate the box that was coming out so we did a about a month and a half to two months in the States with Danzig and Samhain.

And you’ve released a Samhain doll too right?
Yeah, that’s the one based on the Samhain version of Danzig. The Three Faces of Danzig is one from the Misfits era, one is the Samhain era and one from the Danzig current era with the down cross and no shirt - it’s pretty fun.

I believe you’re a collector of rare Japanese dolls and toys?
Um, I used to be a long time ago but I pretty much got all I wanted back then. But a company in Japan approached us to do these toys and we just ended up doing it.

What’s happening with the album of dark blues songs you intended to record with Jerry Cantrell?
Yeah, we talked about it but right now he’s busy on an Alice In Chains reunion so maybe we’ll talk about it again when he gets back. If that doesn’t happen I kinda enjoyed working with Hank on this thing we just did. And his band are incredible so maybe it will end up just morphing into that, I don’t know.

Tell us about that collaboration with Hank III?
It was a lot of fun. I actually recorded it. We did a rehearsal and instead of wasting money on a rehearsal studio my friend has a (inaudible) studio hooked up so we all just went down there and while we were rehearsing we recorded the song - and it sounds good.

So is that available on the web?
No. I hate that. Haha! I hate people downloading songs. I like holding a CD or a record in my hands and looking at artwork. I hate that whole ‘put it on your Ipod’ thing. I’m a music fan and I like to look at bands that I’m listening to. I still like reading lyrics and seeing artwork.

When I last spoke to you in 1992 you had quite a bit to say about the negative impact of various religions …what are your thoughts on the situation in Lebanon and Israel right now?
Organized religion is the reason we have problems in the world and you can see it right now. You have the Muslims and the Christians flipping out and I don’t know who’s worse. I would have to say that at this stage the Muslims are worse.

Can you see a solution to what’s happening over there?
Kill ‘em all! Because to me it’s not religion, it’s fascism. I think all these kinds of crazy organised religions that try to push their religion down your throat are fascists and if you don’t buy into it they kill you or chop your head off and it’s retarded. Someone has to stand up and say ‘this is bullshit’. I just know I wouldn’t be fighting it this way. I’d just nuke everybody. So everyone should be lucky I don’t have a bomb, haha, because I don’t give two shits - I would just nuke ‘em all!

I’m sure you would …well, the consensus is that Danzig’s prime was the late 80s/early 90s and I wondered what’s become of that old line-up; Eerie Von, Chuck Biscuits and John Christ?
I have no idea! I’ve had so many band members over the years so .. Haha!

So who will we see on stage at the upcoming shows?
The band that’s been playing with me for the last year or so. Johnny Kelly from Typo is on drums, Jerry Montana (ex-Dead Lights) on bass and the new guitar player is Joe Fraulob who used to be in Deconstruct. For a while I was using Tommy Victor again, he did the whole Blackacidevil tours and everything including the first Ozzfest.

I assume you still delve back to the old stuff though right?
We won’t be doing any Black Aria stuff as I’ve always separated that from Danzig. I call it Glenn Danzig and usually I put a little disclaimer on it saying ‘hey don’t buy this if you think it’s a Danzig record’ because it’s classical kinda thing. But as far the Danzig shows, we’ll probably do what we’ve been doing for the past whatever years on tour here and in Europe. We got a good selection of everything from the first Danzig record up until now so people will get to hear all those songs - and there’s a lot of songs! It’s tough picking them but hopefully we pick the ones everybody wants to hear.

Offspring

Orange County’s The Offspring recently served up one of the year’s most magnetic punk-pop albums in Smash. Bassist Greg K shares a moment with Truepunk.

Interview by Steve Tauschke with bassist Greg K.

Hi Greg, how’s things on Epitaph at the moment?
“They’re great. The label we used to be affiliated with didn’t do anything for us but with Epitaph they promote real well, they pitch in for their bands and you can always go down there and they’ll be real friendly. For us, they’ve done anything a major label would have done. They don’t have the clout a major label has but they treat their bands just as well, probably even better. We’re real happy with ‘em.”

Is it true your label mates Pennywise recently cracked the magic million mark with their latest record?
“No, they’re up around the one hundred thousand mark right now.”

Epitaph’s bio claims you’re the label’s fastest growing band .. are you cautious not to over-expose yourself?
“We’ve been thinking about that. The first tour we’re going on in the States is going to be a small tour playing three to five hundred capacity venues. We don’t want to jump into the big field right away. Like Stone Temple Pilots offered us their tour and The Ramones have been talking and we’ve been turning those down because we don’t want to jump into those big arenas right now. We want to build it up slow. We’re not afraid of being big, we just don’t want to rush it.”

You’ve gained a leg up through various snowboarding and skate videos .. how did that come about originally?
“We don’t really know how that started. I think that’s the music a lot of these guys are into, a lot of skaters and snowboarders are into the Epitaph-type music. So when they do videos they just start picking songs and we were getting put on a lot of them. It’s actually helped us a lot. Our first Epitaph album was waning at maybe 18,000 (copies sold) for about a year and a half but when the videos started happening at the beginning of this year it just picked up to where in three of four months we’ve done 30 to 40 thousand records. So it hit this whole groove that we didn’t know existed really. Plus there’s the positivity of the (video’s) athleticism which we really like.”

You’re a sporting type then?
“Yeah, well I’ve snowboarded a couple of times and we have a couple of guys in the band who surf. But we don’t really have time right now to do much.”

Does the band actually consider itself part of the skate-punk/popcore scene?
“I don’t know, sometimes it seems that on a small scale it’s good to be associated with something because you’ll get that crowd no matter what, which is always kind of nice. But then if you get stuck in a scene you might alienate everybody else. But if they (surf/skate fraternity) like us then that’s fine. We don’t really consider ourselves part of  that scene but we like being associated with it.”

Thrasher magazine describes your sound as influenced by Social Distortion and The Vandals .. are they accurate?
“The Vandals enjoyed most of their success in the mid-80s and they’re still playing around now but I don’t know if they were a big influence on us. We grew up listening to Southern California bands and that’s what we like so when we decided to form a band that’s what we played, that melodic stuff with a hard edge.”